The
Ardens
were of Saxon origin. Thorkellof
Arden was a Saxon thane
who held the town of Warwick when William the Conqueror came to
England. He did not support King Harold in
the ensuing conflict
(some called him the “Traitor Earl”). As a
result,
he was allowed to keep his lands, although Warwick castle did go to one
of William’s
Norman knights. The Domesday Book of 1086
recorded him as holding the manor of Wolfhamcote in Warwickshire.

The Arden Line in Warwickshire

1.

Aelfwine, sheriff of Warwickshire

died before 1087

2.

Thorkell of Arden

died around 1100

3.

Siward de Arden, of Curdworth

flourished in ealy 1100's

4.

Henry de Arden, of Curdworth

died after 1156

5.

Wiiliam de Arden, of Radbourn

6.

William de Arden, of Radbourn

died around 1233

7.

Sir Thomas de Arden, of Hanwell,
Oxon.

8.

Ralph de Arden

died after 1290

9.

Ralph de Arden, of Curdworth

10.

Sir Henry de Arden, of Park Hall

died around 1400

11.

Sir Ralph Arden, of Park Hall

died in 1420

12.

Robert Arden, of Park Hall

executed in 1452

13.

Walter Arden, of Park Hall

died in 1502

14.

Sir John Arden, of Park Hall

courtier of Henry VII who died
in 1526

15.

Thomas Arden, of Park Hall

died in 1563

16.

Edward Arden, of Park Hall

executed in 1583

17.

Sir Henry Arden, of Park Hall

died in 1616

18.

Robert Arden, of Park Hall

died in 1635

19.

Robert Arden, of Park Hall

died in 1643

The
senior Arden Park Hall line became extinct in 1643.

Arden of Faversham

Arden of Faversham is an Elizabethan play
which depicts the murder of Thomas Arden by his wife Alice Arden and
her lover
and their subsequent discovery and punishment.

The play was based on real
people.Thomas Arden was a successful
businessman of the early Tudor period.Born in 1508, probably
in Norwich, he took
advantage of the tumult of the Reformation to make his fortune, trading
in the
former monastic properties dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538.

However, his wife Alice had taken a
lover and
they plotted to murder her husband.After several bungled attempts, Arden was finally killed in his
own home
on 14 February 1551.His body was left
out in a field during a snowstorm, the murderers hoping that the blame
would
fall on someone who had come to Faversham for the St Valentine's Day
fair. The
snowfall stopped, however, before the killers' tracks were covered and
the
tracks were followed back to the house. Bloodstained swabs and rushes
were
found and the killers quickly confessed.

Alice and her lover were put on trial
and convicted of the crime.He was
hanged and she burnt at the stake in 1551.

There is a plaque at Thomas Arden’s house on Abbey Street in
Faversham (which still stands) commemorating him:

“Here lived Thomas Arden (Mayor 1548,
Comptroller of the Port of
Sandwich and customer of Faversham) and herein on February 15, 1551 he
was
murdered at the instigation of his wife. This house is
immortalized in the Elizabethan
drama Arden of Faversham.

The Courtship of Mary Arden and John Shakespeare

John's
father, Richard, was a tenant farmer who lived in
Snitterfield and grazed his animals, on various sections of land
nearby. Some
of this land belonged to Mary's father, the wealthy Robert Arden of
Wilmecote. Son John initially started work
as a farmer
with his father before making a move to Stratford.

Mary
and John, the Bard's
parents, would have had various opportunities to meet and start their
courtship. Their courtship would not have been without problems as John
was
only of yeoman stock and Mary was part of the aristocracy.

It
is extremely
doubtful that Mary's father would have approved of the liaison. But Robert Arden died in 1556.Convention decreed that any marriage in the
Arden family could take only place after the mourning period of one
year. So it
was that Mary Arden, the heiress, and John Shakespeare, the yeoman,
married in
1557 to become the Bard's mother and father.

George Arden's Duel

Arden
was a member of the newly-formed Melbourne Club.In
1839, a year after his arrival in
Melbourne, he dueled with fellow club member Barry Cotter on the
racecourse at
the foot of Batman’s Hill.Dr. Cotter
was the challenger.So it must be
assumed that Arden had given offence.Cotter’s
bullet hit the hat of his second and then Arden fired intentionally
wide.However, after the duel, Arden
either
resigned or was expelled from the club.

Eunice Quedens aka Eve Arden

Allegedly
inspired in 1934 by a
container of Elizabeth Arden cold cream in her dressing room, Eunice
Quedens
reinvented herself as Eve Arden. Several successful appearances in the
annual
Ziegfeld Follies followed and her film career was launched.

In July 1948 she starred in the popular
radio situation comedy Our Miss Brooks.She
was a sensation. Her performance inspired
letters from thousands of real-life teachers and led to speaking
engagements
before the PTA and other educational groups. The show lasted from 1948
to 1957
on radio, with overlapping success on television from 1952 to 1956.